That Pomeranian Tore My Sweater!
It was November 2013. I was visiting my buaji (aunt) during my Diwali break. I had spent the past four months in Bangalore with the most stupidly loving creature, my Labrador Retriever Yuki. He was my very first canine companion. So, naturally, I had a new found love for all dogs. I had never disliked them earlier either. But I remember being slightly skeptical. In fact, as a child I used to believe that any dog sniffing me would bite me if it didn't like the way I smelt. I used to be very careful while purchasing my deodorants and perfumes because of this. And never missed using one before stepping out too! Not that it made a lot of difference to anybody around, but, you're welcome, world. 😛
Buaji and her family have always been loyally stuck to having Pomeranians as their pets. In my thirty two years of life, they have had three and have alternatively named them Sparkie, Jimmy and Sparkie. The second Sparkie is no longer with us and I doubt if there'll be a second Jimmy. This post belongs to Jimmy, the First.
So as I was saying, I had a new found love for all dogs and none of the erstwhile skepticism. Thanks to my Yuki. So I reached buaji's to demonstrate some of my new "skills". I greeted Jimmy by singing a repetition of "good afternoon" in a not-so-pleasing voice, hoping to see his tail wag and his hips dance. Instead he growled and barked at me. He also jumped. Thankfully he was leashed at this time. I got an immediate reality check and backed off. About half an hour later, I decided to bribe him to make him friends with me. So I requested buaji to let me feed him his lunch. I believed that if I have fed a dog with my hands, there is nothing I can do that will offend him.
But a little skepticism had kicked in now. So I did not put the bites of the chapati directly into his mouth. I would place them on the ground, far enough to save my fingers and close enough to let him grab them. He ate the food quietly. No drama. So I became a little relaxed. Now we were roaming around each other coolly, albeit at some distance. I was sneakily narrowing this gap between us by giving him little bits of treatos.
And then it happened! I decided that he loves me as much as my Yuki and will never hurt me no matter what (because, after all, I had been feeding him for the past twenty minutes). I bent down in a sudden movement, reached out to his middle section (near the belly) with both hands and attempted to pick him up, whilst looking directly into his eyes. Jimmy swiftly jumped out of my hold and onto me. In a reflex, I hopped back up. In our opposite movements, Jimmy "got the bone" by pulling down the necklace that I was wearing with one paw and the right sleeve of my sweater with the other.
Never again did I try to pet buaji's Pomeranians. But I did try to pet a friend's Dachshund and another one's Shih Tzu. I did not attempt to pick them up, but I was met with a somewhat similar reaction. Why were the little ones rejecting me?! It bugged me very much but honestly, mortified me more. As I thought about it further, I came across an interesting individual at work. He was not very fluent with technology but was responsible for leading a big team of software engineers. He would always be very hard on people, kept them on a very tight leash. There was no room for errors on this team, no room for fun, no scope for leeways. I realised soon what he was actually doing. In his insecurity of being technically deficient, he was overcompensating as a boss.
It is basically the "survival instinct" that all living creatures possess. The small dogs yap and snap to create an illusion of strength. They don't trust bigger creatures to keep them safe. So the first instinct is to shoo them away. Their bark might not be louder than their larger counterparts, but it is surely more determined to keep the trouble-makers away from them. And it is neither a myth nor a stereotype. Small dogs do behave differently than large dogs.
In today's landscape of domesticated dogs, this behaviour is only partly the animal's survival instinct. Because of our negligence as owners, it has also become the animal's brattish instinct now. We let our little dogs get away with a lot of bad behaviour. Because they look "cute" while jumping at us or we find it amusing when they growl. There is also a stark difference in the way we pet large dogs and small dogs (to begin with, take my example above). When I used to walk Yuki, people would often approach enthusiastically to pet him. But they would run away as soon he jumped at them. And in his case, he was jumping to express his own excitement to meet them. But when I went walking with my friend's Shih Tzu, people considered it their right to pet him, regardless of his reaction to the situation. One stranger even proceeded to pick the poor guy right up (not advisable for a fresh encounter)! Because they thought that he was not big enough to harm them.
This is the same mistake that pet owners make while disciplining their small dogs. We coddle them into becoming aggressive and asocial. It's okay to punish your dog reasonably. It is not okay to punish any dog with loud sounds and abrasive gestures. But while educating, it is imperative to treat large and small dogs alike. Forgive me for saying, but size does matter. Whether it is the size of the dog or the size of the dog owner's efforts to train them.
To sum up and to reiterate, small dogs and large dogs behave differently. We (puny humans) can somewhat bridge this gap but on a larger scale, need to be mindful of this fact in two spheres - first, while petting them and second, while training/disciplining them. This will resonate with you much more easily if you demolish the barrier of animal vs human here. Trust me! Consider dogs as humans for a minute and then imagine how you'd like to be approached by a stranger or be taught by a teacher. Would you like random people to accost you with hugs as they pass you on the streets? Would you enjoy if your parents or teachers or bosses treated you like a child always and gave you no opportunity to learn something meaningful? I don't think that all of you would answer these questions in the affirmative. So, let your small dogs have big attitudes but an approachable personality.